The record industry has lost its battle to extend copyright protection for ageing pop stars after a long-awaited Treasury review concluded it would do little to encourage new creativity.
A fiercely fought campaign, backed by artists as varied as Sir Cliff Richard and Jethro Tull, had argued some of Britain’s best-loved crooners stand to lose their livelihood when the current 50-year limit on royalties begins to catch up with hits first released in the 1950s and 1960s. It will later this week urge for tighter protection to stop illegal downloads of music still in copyright.
Still, such a large campaign is based on a single premise, that is, the studies show that piracy is a huge problem and costs lots of money to the music industry but the numbers underlying the premise are not always correct. This is such a large problem that they threaten the institutions of music.
In conclusion, it cannot be stressed enough on the need to be careful of how and where we access media. Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws to the authors of original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.
Via: Telegraph
